


Far Too Long I've Grown In Hopelessness

by geckoholic



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Fade to Black, Fuck Or Die, Gentle Kissing, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, The PG-13 Version, Touching, Uhh At Least For Now, Witch Curses, well kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 21:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20234497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geckoholic/pseuds/geckoholic
Summary: Every vampire who enters my village is doomed, except those who can find a human that shows them their love.Alucard gets cursed by a witch. Trevor and Sypha get creative.





	Far Too Long I've Grown In Hopelessness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hearthouses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearthouses/gifts).

> Your letter was a such a treasure trove, and I'm really sad I didn't have to the time to write you something much, much longer. I hope you'll still enjoy this piece and its... implications. Ahem. Wink wink, nudge nudge. I hope I'll manage to come back to it later, but for now, it stands alone.
> 
> Not beta'd, so all remaining mistakes are most definitely mine.
> 
> Title is from "Victorious" by Skillet.

Trevor's tired. Very, very tired. They've been on the road for six straight days, following the trail of a wayward vampire gang. Although Trevor suspects they're less of a gang and more of a coincidental gathering, making their way from feeding ground to feeding ground – read, from town to town – together since they all have the same goal anyway. Either way, they're wreaking havoc in the region around the library and the castle, and no self-respecting vampire-and-demon-hunter can just let that happen in vicinity of their home. Or something. Trevor will admit that _home_ is a bit of an abstract concept for him, has been since the Belmont estate burned down. 

He glances at Sypha, riding beside him, and Alucard, a bit ahead, and shakes his head before the sappy feeling he's been trying so hard to ignore can take root again. 

Sypha looks exhausted, too. There are lights in the distance, a village, nothing more, but with a little luck they'll have an inn with free rooms. Trevor shifts his weight in the saddle and tugs on the reins, making his horse slow down a bit.

“We should stop for the night,” he suggests. “Have something for dinner we didn't have to hunt ourselves, sleep in an actual bed for once.” 

“And have a bath,” Sypha adds, nodding enthusiastically. “A nice, warm bath.” 

Not Trevor's highest priority, but he too has grown a bit tired of quick washes in cold rivers. He nods back at her and they share a wistful sigh. 

Alucard heaves a sigh of his own, although there's nothing wistful about it; that's sheer annoyance. “The horses had a good rest at our last campsite, we can keep going another day.” 

Sypha rolls her eyes and then clicks her tongue, spurs her horse on so that she can catch up with Alucard. She says his name in that way she has, and she bats her eyelashes at him. Alucard frowns, looking, if anything, more annoyed, but Trevor knows from personal experience how hard it is to resist that expression. 

“Fine, then,” Alucard allows, and Sypha turns around in the saddle, crowing at Trevor to celebrate their victory. 

***

The village is smaller than expected, and quiet, but they do have a pub with two rooms for rent above the kitchen. Sypha leads the negotiation for price and accommodations – they have to get their own hot water for the bath, but they can have an extra mat without being charged that much more – and Alucard keeps nursing his frown until they're upstairs and it becomes time to distribute two rooms between three people. 

“You can have your own, if you like,” Trevor suggests, feeling generous since Alucard let them have their way about stopping here in the first place. “Sypha can have the bed and deal with my snoring while I sleep on the mat.” 

Sypha shoots him a gentle look that says doesn't much care for his attempts at chivalry and that she'll have the last word about who sleeps on the bed and who gets relegated to the mat. But for now, she nods. “Yes. You can have your own room. We'll get things sorted out between ourselves in the other one.” 

Alucard still seems a bit constipated about the whole affair. He shrugs, as if he couldn't care less, and disappears into that newly gained room of his own. Whatever. Maybe he gets knackered, too, despite his constant claims to the contrary, and his mood will have improved after a good night's sleep. 

***

The room is still dark when Trevor startles awake. He's instantly alert, his body reacting before his conscious mind had a chance to register what rose him. He holds his breath and listens, eyes still closed; there's no one in the room but him and Sypha, the latter still snoring softly. But he hears a noise from the other room, a soft whining, and his blood turns to ice water in his veins when he realizes that's the room they gave to Alucard. Trevor hesitates for a moment; it could just be a nightmare, and that's private. They shouldn't intrude if it's really just a bad dream, a bad memory resurfacing in the dead of the night. But Trevor could swear those are pained moans. Alucard is in agony. Alucard is in _trouble_. 

Trevor shakes Sypha awake, and together, they go to investigate. Alucard doesn't open the door, which isn't a real hindrance for either of them. They give it a few more loud knocks, and then they help themselves. Sypha slips past Trevor, clearly impatient in her worry, and calls out Alucard's name. 

The moans increase in volume. No other reaction comes forth. Trevor lights the small oil lamp on the bedside table and they both take in a breath in unison when the dim light illuminate Alucard's form on the bed. 

He's writhing as if against invisible bonds. His eyes are screwed shut. He's breathing hard. Two long scratches on each cheek mar his face; more blood seeps through the sleeves of his undershirt. Trevor whirls around in search of an attacker, but he's stopped by Sypha's hand on his shoulder. 

“Listen,” she says, and points at Alucard's face, his lips. And yes, alright, now that she's shown him Trevor sees it too: Alucard's lips are moving, and once he concentrates on the sound of his voice, Trevor can hear him mumble something in another language. Silently, Sypha's mouth forms the same words, the same strange vowels. She turns back around to Trevor, her expression halfway between worry and determination.  
“I know that incantation. I've heard it before. A witch. He's been cursed by a witch.”

***

The word _witch_ is a bit of a sensitive topic for Sypha, not one she throws around lightly, and so the mare fact that she uses it now gives Trevor an idea of what they're dealing with. The church made it into an accusation and a death sentence, threw it at healers and scientists and more than one Speaker. Sypha only uses it for dark magic used with malicious intent. 

She storms out of the room, out of the house, and Trevor has trouble keeping up with her as she rushes down the street. She's summoned a small ball of light into her palm, and it pulses as they walk. Trevor is neither dimwitted nor entirely unversed in the art of magic, and he's got a good idea of what she's doing. He follows her, keeping pace – to protect her, but also still with the image of a bleeding, writhing Alucard on his mind. 

They'll find whoever did this to him, and teach them a lesson not to fuck with their... well, their favorite annoying vampire. Or something. 

***

The small cottage at the edge of the woods is almost a bit too typical, and Trevor huffs a laugh when that's where Sypha's little magical compass pulses even brighter than before and then dies out. Sypha gives him a seething glare, and he shrugs, trying to communicate to her that he's only being sarcastic. It's part of his utterly charming personality. She should have picked up on that by now. 

She waves him off and sneaks to the window next to the door. The candles inside are still burning, dipping the entire cottage into a warm, yellow light. Sypha peers inside, and Trevor catches up with her, doing the same. 

Inside sits a young woman, twenty at most, wearing plain clothes, her hair in a braid. And she's... knitting. Somehow that doesn't quite mix with his mental image of witches, but ah, he does know that people are rarely what they seem to be at first glance. Young witches can be powerful, or maybe she's not young at all, nor is she knitting, and it's all part of a carefully crafted mirror image. 

Trevor looks around, already sussing out what could be used as a weapon in there, and what they'd be able to seize once they've broken in, but he needn't have put so much thought into it. Sypha is already hauling the door open, introducing herself to the witch by summoning a gust of wind around herself, both arms braced on her hips. 

“Let him go,” she demands. The witch turns to them, grinning. 

*** 

_Every vampire who enters my village is doomed, except those who can find a human that shows them their love._

The witch's words swirl through Trevor's head the whole way back. It's an effective curse, surely. Most vampires regard humans as vermin. Most humans fear vampires, avoid them, kill them if they can. Love shared between a vampire and a human, that's almost impossible. 

Except it's how Alucard came to be, and it's what Trevor can read on Sypha's face as they rush back to the pub, and despite all the bickering something similar burns in Trevor's heart as he's matching her steps. He wouldn't have called it love until this very moment, wasn't even sure it deserved the title of friendship. But the curse brings with it the risk of losing Alucard, for good, not just splitting up for a little while. They came back for him after he decided to stay by himself and brood in the the castle. They're not complete without him. Whatever they share between the three of them is undefined and nameless, an emotion forged in battle, out of necessity, but that only made it grow stronger. 

Trevor isn't yet sure how, but they'll prove it. To the witch. To Alucard. To the world. 

***

Alucard is in a sorry state when they return. His breathing is flat and irregular, and while some of the cuts seem to have healed, more are starting to show. Distantly, Trevor wonders if vampires can bleed out, if they should, uh, help out. Can a half-vampire even drink blood? He never thought about it, not even in the beginning, when he had every reason to view Alucard as a threat. Which, interesting, but something to dwell on after they solved the problem at hand. 

Sypha mumbles Alucard's name and his head whips around, fear in his eyes for a moment. Then seems to recognize them, relaxing incrementally, and inclines his head when Sypha approaches him. She sits on his bed and pulls at him to sit up, the movement visibly causing him pain. She maneuvers him back down, head in her lap, and he stares up at her with wide eyes, shudders as she runs her hands through his long hair. 

Briefly, she looks up at Trevor, mouthing a quiet _you too_ at him. And, uh. Hah. Yes. He should join in; two people caring for Alucard will surely be more effective. He glances around and remembers the now-empty bathtub they all shared, one after the other, last night. Holding a hand up to Sypha, he grins and makes a quick run to their room, fetching a sponge, and then downstairs to get a bucket of water. 

He sits down next to Sypha and wets the sponge to gently wipe the blood from Alucard's face, careful not to aggravate the cuts and scratches too much. Alucard, meanwhile, glances from him to Sypha. He's still murmuring the constant incantations, but his eyes are full of questions. 

“It's a witch's curse,” Sypha explains and gently brushes her fingers down his chin. “We're working on finding a way to lift it. You'll be okay.” 

Alucard's gaze wanders from her to Trevor, and he falls silent, his jaw set, his lips a thin line. It takes him some effort to stop the incantations, that much is obvious, and Trevor has an idea. Born from the desire to help, to offer an distraction and keep Alucard occupied, he leans down and presses his lips to Alucard's. He waits for a reaction, for Alucard to reel back or swat him away, but when neither happens, he turns the contact into a gentle, hesitant kiss. 

Alucard kisses back with unexpected fervor, and Trevor gets swept away in the sensations. This, he knows how to do, although it's been a while since he kissed a man. He only breaks away when Sypha says his name, a hand around his upper arm. 

Trevor looks at her, and she nods towards Alucard's face; most of the gashes have healed, and it doesn't look like there's been new ones in a few minutes. He doesn't seem out of the woods yet, he's still pale and breathing all wrong and the scratching hasn't stopped everywhere. 

But it's _helping_. He's getting better. 

Sypha meets Trevor's gaze, a determined expression on her face. She, too, leans down for a kiss, and afterwards, she touches Alucard's arms, his shoulders, what she can reach of his chest. He arches into the contact and Trevor joins in, letting his fingers dance over the sensitive skin at Alucard's wrists at first, then slowly making his way up on the inside of his arms. Alucard closes his eyes and shudders, letting out a sound that's halfway between a sigh and a moan. 

Showing them their love, huh? Trevor scoffs. They'll show him their love in every way they can think of and for as long as it takes the witch to realize they mean business. They'll make her give up her hold on Alucard, loving him so sweetly that she has no other choice than to let him go.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [dreamwidth](https://geckoholic.dreamwidth.org/), [tumblr](http://lostemotion.tumblr.com) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/spacenerdz).


End file.
